


and then they were teammates

by eternallylost



Series: blue lock: untold [1]
Category: Blue Lock (Manga)
Genre: Getting to Know Each Other, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:40:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26216530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eternallylost/pseuds/eternallylost
Summary: “I don’t think we ever actually introduced ourselves so allow me to start over,” he says casually, “Shidou Ryuusei, nice to meet you."“Mikage Reo. Reo is fine.”“Oh? First name basis already? I didn’t know you were so friendly,” Shidou chuckles. “Call me Ryuusei, then.”or; the time ryuureo were teammates (that was so cruelly withheld from us by the creators of bllk)
Relationships: Mikage Reo/Shidou Ryuusei
Series: blue lock: untold [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1903969
Kudos: 25





	and then they were teammates

**Author's Note:**

  * For [itadoriyuji](https://archiveofourown.org/users/itadoriyuji/gifts).



> my participation in #bllkexchange 
> 
> officially for @lokijulian on twitter !
> 
> but also for all my fellow ryuureo stans deprived of the interaction we badly needed.
> 
> please enjoy~

Reo stared blankly at the scoreboard: the harsh reality of their loss flashed in big bright LED lights. He had expected Shidou to be strong and skilled (after all, becoming the top scorer was not, in any way, an easy feat). What he didn’t anticipate was that he and Kunigami would be so utterly powerless against him, so much that they would lose to him so quickly. The match that would ultimately decide their fate had ended in an instant, and Reo fell to his knees. 

_ They’ll probably choose Kunigami for his shooting power and muscle.  _

_ Is this the end of his football career? _

_ Is this going to be the dead end for the path Reo firmly chose for himself, for the first time in his life despite his parents discouraging him?  _

_ Had his father been right all along? _

_ What about Nagi? Will he never get to play with-- _

“Hey, purple bun. Come on over.” Shidou’s voice cuts through Reo’s thoughts. “I think you’re worth a little something more than Mr. Naive Hero-wannabe over there.”

Reo looks up, eyes wide with genuine shock. He turned to Kunigami, who looked back at him with an equally shocked expression that slowly grew more pained as the reality sank in. 

“Kunigami…” Reo whispered, but he bites down on his lip to stop himself from saying any more. 

What could he even say?  _ Sorry? _ It wasn’t his fault that they lost; not his fault that Kunigami didn’t get chosen. _ It’s okay?  _ Reo knows well enough that it is _ far  _ from okay. Kunigami’s dream was completely destroyed. There is nothing Reo could say to make it okay.

So, Reo pushes himself up off the ground and walks towards Shidou and Igaguri, his new teammates. He didn’t give Kunigami a farewell, or even just a pat on the shoulder. He knew better than to show sympathy, because sympathy wouldn’t change anything; it would just feel like rubbing salt into the wound. He bids him goodbye and a thank you in his mind as he passes by Kunigami’s defeated figure.

“Welcome to the team, purple bun. You ready to finally be on the winning side?” Shidou flashes a smirk when the purple-haired boy reaches his side, but Reo stays unresponsive, face void of any expression. Without looking back, the newly-formed trio walk through the winners gate and onto the next stage. 

  
  
  


\---

  
  
  


To Reo’s surprise, it didn’t take them long to get an opponent for the next match. The surprising part, to be completely honest, was that there were no injuries inflicted in the process. Shidou had been civil with the team they approached, and the said team most likely had never heard about a Shidou Ryuusei and his violent tendencies (and Reo would like to keep it that way, if possible), so they easily came to an agreement. 

Reo noted that none of them were from his stratum so he had no idea what kind of players they were, but highest rank among them was #20. He made a mental note to be wary of that person, though he knew that the ranking doesn’t exactly correlate to skills, if the big bold ‘111’ on Shidou’s uniform was anything to go by. 

They decided to schedule the match for the next morning, since the other team had also just come from a close two-on-two match. The whole time, Reo never spoke a word. He didn’t really feel the need to, especially with how Shidou handled everything so well. If Reo hadn’t first met him as a hot-headed moron who attacked people for no reason at all, he could’ve been fooled into thinking Shidou was as good a guy as Kunigami was. 

Once they reached their assigned sleeping quarters, Igarashi was about to call dibs on a bed but Shidou immediately held Igarashi by the head, stopping him from rushing into the room.

“Not so fast, Igaguri-chan. Let’s give our new teammate the freedom to choose his bed.” Shidou says with a lilt in his tone. He turns to Reo with a smug grin, one arm gesturing into the room. “Consider this our warm welcome.”

Reo raises an eyebrow at Shidou. Even when he first heard Shidou speak, Reo already found him a little odd, particularly his diction. Reo noticed that he had an unusual choice of words, not exactly weird, but it wasn’t normal. And he has a playful and charming tone to his deep, modulated voice-- it sounded flirty and mocking at the same time. 

Reo steps into the room, muttering a “Thanks, I guess.” before sitting onto the separate single bed next to the bunk bed. Shidou and Igaguri follow inside, the smaller guy claiming the top bunk right away. Shidou settled in on the bottom bunk, sitting directly in front of Reo. 

“I don’t think we ever actually introduced ourselves so allow me to start over,” he says casually, tone as playful as usual. “Shidou Ryuusei, nice to meet you.” Shidou offers Reo a smile and holds out his hand.

“Mikage Reo. Reo is fine.” Reo takes the hand into a light grip then lets go as quickly as he took it.

“Oh? First name basis already? I didn’t know you were so friendly,” Shidou chuckles. “Call me Ryuusei, then.”

“Not really. I just have my reasons, Shidou.” Reo replied, emphasizing on his use of Shidou’s last name with a harsh tone.

“Well aren’t you a fun one?” Shidou laughs at Reo’s rejection to call him by his first name. “Why would you refuse to be called by your last name? You got a grudge against your family? Avoiding the spotlight or something?”

Reo doesn’t reply. He would much rather not talk about his personal issues with a guy who’s practically a stranger with a name and a face. Instead, he just stares back at him, hoping he’d get a clue. Shidou raises an eyebrow, muttering “Mikage” over and over to himself waiting for something to click, and Reo watches as the imaginary gears in his brain turn.

“I heard he’s the heir to a huge company or something like that.” Igaguri's head pops out from the top bunk to join in on their conversation. 

“Oh wait,” Ryuusei snaps his fingers upon remembering something. “You mean the Mikage with that huge Mikage building in the middle of Tokyo?” 

Reo just nods. That corporate building stood out too much: surrounded by buildings only half its height, with the big “MIKAGE” in capital Roman alphabet stainless steel letters sitting at the top. It was hard to miss. For most of his life he had often been asked about that building, and it was difficult to deny his association with it. With him studying in such prestigious schools, having a personal driver, getting all the brand new things without even asking: Mikage Reo’s life just exuded luxury. 

But it's not that he hates his family name and the prestige that he was born into-- he was rather thankful for it, really. It’s just that he wanted to be his own person, too. To be known as  _ Reo  _ with his own personal achievements, without any relation to being a Mikage. That's why he had always insisted on using his first name, regardless of familiarity.

“Must be tough. I’m surprised your folks let you stay in this hellhole for this long.” Shidou comments, and Reo would be lying if he said he wasn’t caught off guard by the remark. Reo had grown used to laughing awkwardly in response to the instant that other people would comment on how lucky he is to have such a good life and how they’re jealous of him. But there was none of that from Shidou. Shidou Ryuusei was indeed a little odd, and that somehow piques Reo’s interest so he indulges in the conversation.

“It was a formal invitation from the Japan Football Association. Had the letter mentioned anything about sleeping in a standard futon for weeks, my parents would have done something about it.” Reo shrugs his shoulders and Shidou laughs again. 

“Well, now you earned that comfy bed. You’ll finally get a good night’s sleep later, rich boy.” 

“I’ll have you know I scored enough to ask for a better bed back in the first selection.” A quick comeback from Reo. 

“Of course you did.” Shidou chuckles again, and a harmless thought of how nice it sounded passes through Reo’s mind. 

“Anyway,” Reo decides to shift the topic away from himself, “should we go practice?” It was still too early to go to sleep, Reo figured they could train for a while just so he could get a good look at his new teammates’ play styles. 

“Ah, we could but don’t you think it’s pointless to train against some robotic defenses?” Shidou raises an eyebrow curiously. “The real match is going to be strikers versus strikers, you know?” 

Reo pauses. Shidou’s right. Blue Lock’s robotic defenses are far from how strikers would play defense. They lacked the capacity to adapt and evolve. Reo recalls the match against Nagi’s trio, and how he, Chigiri, and Kunigami grew helpless, despite their synergy, as their opponents continuously evolved on the field. But that’s all the more reason for Reo to not slack off. 

“You have a point. But," Reo pushes himself up from the bed and heads for the door. "I still want to practice.” 

“Then please, do your best!” Shidou cheers with his playful tone that sounded more mocking than charming. _ Seriously, what is with that guy?  _ Reo couldn’t help but roll his eyes as he walked out of the room. 

  
  
  


\---

  
  
  


Reo stood in front of a bunch of holograms for what should be his thirtieth goal now. Training alone was difficult, Reo realized twenty five goals ago, as there was no one to practice his specialized passes with. But he reminded himself that he is a striker, and so he should be making goals on his own. So, for the past half hour, he had focused on passing to himself (like what he saw Chigiri do), and practicing his dribbles and tricks to get past the defense and score his own goals.

After taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, Reo kicks the ball into motion, and dribbles it across the field up to the first defender. He executes a clean chop, speeding past the hologram with ease.  _ One.  _ The next defender was a good few meters away from him so he decided to try pulling off a rainbow kick. Reo taps the ball slightly ahead of him, then traps it against the back of his heel. Leaning forward, he rolls the ball up and kicks the ball up using his heel. The ball flies smoothly, arching over his head towards the defender but Reo jumps to catch it mid-descent, bouncing it off his knee then tapping it with the inside of his foot, successfully veering it away from the hologram.  _ Two. Not bad, but it's risky,  _ Reo thinks to himself.

He picks up the pace and heads for the next line of defense. Reo charges in and plans for a swift roulette. Once he gets into a close range with the defender, he rolls the ball backwards with the sole of his right foot. He quickly turns his body away from the defender then-

"Boo!"

"Shidou??" Reo stumbles in his step, utterly surprised by the other's presence. "What the hell?"

Shidou grins wickedly and takes the chance to the ball from Reo, easily speeding past the defenses and scoring a clean goal against the Blue Lock man. He then turns around to walk back to Reo who was wearing an irked expression. 

"What was that for?" Reo narrows his eyes at the tan-skinned boy who was grinning proudly at him.

"Thought you needed company." Shidou shrugs, hands on his own hips. 

"I was  _ training  _ and you snuck up and disrupted me in the middle of it. What made you think I needed your company?" Reo rolls his eyes at the other and walks away to pick up another ball. He didn't understand why he was suddenly feeling so irritated, but he was. Probably because Shidou managed to sneak up on him and surprise him so easily. He really needed to work on handling his blind spots. 

"My bad, purple bun. l didn't know you were this serious when training." Shidou says in a softer tone, rubbing his nape. Reo looks back to see Shidou actually looking apologetic.  _ What is up with him? _

“But,” Shidou continues, “I’ve been watching you practice. And I already noticed this from our match earlier but you’re quite a well-rounded player, aren’t you?” He approaches Reo again and tries to steal the ball casually and Reo swiftly rolls it away from him. Shidou smiles at that. “You move well, as expected, but I thought you could use some 1-on-1 training.”

Reo raises an eyebrow at him suspiciously. “Why are you suddenly willing to train with me? I thought training like this was pointless to you.” 

Shidou shrugs, his lips curving up into a smile. “Watching you train with such focus was amusing and it made me want to witness your hard work up close.”

Reo scoffs at that. He doesn’t quite get what Shidou’s deal is or why he seems to enjoy bothering Reo, but Reo has always had a hard time understanding people’s true intentions so he just drops it. 

Reo accepts the offer and the two of them play for around half an hour, but Reo only ever got to steal the ball from Shidou twice, not even scoring a goal for a second time with Shidou also managing to steal the ball back from him. Shidou’s skill was unbelievable. They stop to take a break, Reo feeling more exhausted than ever. Shidou tosses him a sports bottle and Reo thanks him before sitting on the ground. 

“Not bad, purple bun. Not a lot of people have managed to steal from me twice in a short time. Maybe you do have a passion for football.” Shidou comments before taking a gulp from his sports bottle.

“I don’t think I’d be here if I wasn’t serious about winning,” Reo snaps back at him, “Are you messing with me?"

"Not at all.” Shidou drops onto the ground to sit in front of Reo. “I like you. You're a highly-balanced striker, and that's what makes you strong," Shidou declares with certainty, “But I'm just stronger.” 

Reo scoffs at the way Shidou praised and mocked him at the same time, but he can’t argue with him. The difference between their skills was glaringly obvious. He needed to become better and stronger faster. "How long have you been playing football?" Reo decides to ask.

"Ah? For as long as I can remember. You see, my gramps was a pro back in his days. And he practically raised me into it. You could say it's become a way of life, rather than a sport." 

Reo lays down on the grass as he recalls his own childhood. "I spent my childhood learning about math and stocks. If only I had discovered football back then…" The more Reo looked back, the more he felt bad for his younger self. He doesn’t even remember if he genuinely enjoyed studying those things back then, or if he just really wanted to impress his parents.

Shidou laughs. "You really learned about stocks as a kid? I thought those were just exaggerations in the rich family television dramas my grandma used to watch.”    
  
Reo groans in frustration and closes his eyes, “My life  _ is  _ a rich family drama.” That makes Shidou snicker even more, and Reo slowly notices the way he’s growing comfortable around Shidou. He rarely jokes around like that with anyone, except maybe with Nagi. 

  
“Wait, when did you start playing football?" Shidou inquires, sounding genuinely curious.

"Around the time I entered high school. Not more than a year ago." 

"What the hell?" Shidou exclaims in clear disbelief, "That's actually impressive."

Reo’s eyes were closed, but if they weren’t, they’d be rolling at Shidou right now. "Stop patronizing me. It feels sarcastic coming from you."

"I'm serious! You're extremely skilled for someone who just started playing. That's coming from someone who's known football all his life. Even I couldn’t have gotten to your level in such a short amount of time." Shidou rambles on, trying to convince Reo with his words.

"Whatever.” Reo was definitely not used to being complimented on his skills. Part of the reason might be because Nagi was there beside him the whole time. Nagi was a natural genius on the field and so everyone’s eyes were on him. Meanwhile, Reo, the mastermind who assisted in almost every head-turning goal Nagi ever scored, had to work extra hard to get to the level he’s at right now. He was recognized as a good striker as he is, but once Nagi is put into the picture, Reo was, to put it simply, normal. So, hearing Shidou praise him and him alone was rather new to his ears and he didn’t know how to react but to act indifferent. “I have my basketball training to thank too, I guess."

"Oh, you played basketball too? I'm guessing that's where you got so good at defending," Shidou remarks.

"Probably." Reo pushes himself up off the ground, standing up and patting the dirt off his training suit. 

"You wanna go another round?" Shidou looks up at him with a wide grin.

This time, Reo declines. "No, I'm going to take a bath. It's getting late." He starts walking off, but then Shidou shouts after him.

"Wait, purple bun!"

  
  
  


-

  
  
  


“I can’t believe I let you drag me into your little cool-down exercise.” Reo mutters. He and Shidou were now sitting in the bath, letting their muscles relax after a long tiring day.

“You should be more grateful. That was from the ultimate Shidou training menu. I can guarantee that by tomorrow, you’ll be in the best shape you’ve ever been.” Shidou responds with a confident grin. He sat a few feet away from Reo, with his arms stretched out to his sides. Reo watches as Shidou closes his eyes and slides his body deeper into the water, his face serene. In the calm and quiet of a common bathroom, Shidou looked peaceful and harmless but Reo knows he's anything but that. Somehow, Reo finds it fascinating.

"You know, I've been meaning to ask…" Reo starts off again after a moment of silence. Shidou opens an eye, a signal for Reo to continue. "Why are you ranked 111th? You're obviously better than that." Reo ranked 10th, so it was hard to imagine how Shidou ended up so low, even lower than Igaguri. It didn't make sense. Then again, nothing about Shidou made sense to Reo.

"Ah, well." Shidou chuckles to himself before continuing. “For one, I was the last to enter the first stage room. I was doing my morning warm-up exercises when Ego called everyone out. Of course I didn’t follow immediately.” 

“Because you had to finish your Shidou-special morning routine.” Reo interjects.

“Exactly. You’re getting me, purple bun.” Shidou replies cheerfully. “From there I just took my time ‘cause it was too boring, until it got a bit exciting after 40 goals so I picked up my pace. That’s it.” 

By now, Reo had noticed how Shidou would talk differently when it comes to football. He uses words such as  _ exciting _ or  _ boring _ or  _ pointless _ , but never  _ difficult _ or _ challenging _ \-- then again, maybe it’s because nothing is actually difficult for someone like him. He called football a  _ way of life _ and said something about  _ exploding, _ which Reo never really understood. Shidou was wrong. Reo doesn’t really get him at all. 

“What exactly do you find ‘exciting’?” Reo asks yet another question, and it earns him a curious look from Shidou.   
  
“Has the Mikage Reo finally taken an interest in someone like me?” Shidou flashes him one of his charming grins. 

“God,” Reo rolls his eyes on reflex, “that’s coming from someone who watched me train from afar like a stalker?”

“You’re getting sassier, my little purple bun!” Shidou exclaims, clearly amused. “I’m not complaining though. It’s nice to see you show a bit more energy.”

“We’ve only known each other for a  _ day. _ How would you know I’m not usually more upbeat?” Reo counters.   
  
“Oh, trust me. I just know. You’re an interesting read.” There Shidou goes again with his supposedly charming tone that rattles Reo.  _ What does he even mean by that? _

Reo was about to retort but he was interrupted by a grumble resounding from his stomach. Shidou hears it and instantly cracks up. Reo glares at him, cheeks heating up in embarrassment.

“Come on, let’s go finish up so we can eat some steak. My treat.” Shidou stands up and shoots Reo a teasing wink before stepping out of the bath, leaving a flustered Reo behind.

  
  
  


\---

  
  
  


The two spent dinner discussing the most random of things over two plates of steak (Shidou's treat, as promised), with Shidou doing most of the talking and Reo only answering as briefly as possible. They talked about the usual: favorite subject, favorite manga, favorite TV show, favorite movie, and many more. At one point Shidou comments, "Do you even have any interest that doesn't have anything to do with numbers and money?" to which Reo simply answers: "football" and Shidou just nods and chuckles. 

To Reo's surprise, he and Shidou had more common interests aside from football. Shidou also played a lot of mobile rhythm games-- always in the most difficult mode, of course, because he plays it for the thrill. Reo, on the other hand, played rhythm games mostly to train his eyes to follow quick movements. Shidou also mentioned his interest in arts and literature, which may somehow explain why Shidou talks the way he does-- the choice of words, the tone, and all. Meanwhile, Reo enjoyed going to art galleries and exhibits. He liked to read too, but most of the books he’s read were about business. This earns him a judging look, and a bunch of recommendations from Shidou.

After brushing their teeth, they head back to their sleeping quarters, where Igaguri probably lay asleep since who knows when. Reo didn’t even bother asking Shidou about him the whole time they were together. They enter the room and find a pair of pajama pants on the floor, but what catches their attention is the way the sleeping boy had a leg and arm hanging off the ledge of the top bunk. 

“Should we…” Reo was about to suggest helping the boy out, but Shidou waves him off before he could finish his sentence.    
  
“He’ll be fine.” Shidou says, picking up the discarded pajama pants with his toes and hanging it off the bunk bed ladder. 

Reo sits on his own bed and folds up his training suit neatly before putting it down on one corner. Afterwards, he climbs in under the thick blanket and settles down with a sigh, only realizing how tired he really is when his back hit the cushioned surface. He hears a chuckle from across the room. Reo turns his head to raise an eyebrow at Shidou.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing. You sounded so exhausted." 

"For one, I actually thought my entire short football career was going to end a few hours ago," Reo deadpans.

This makes Shidou shake his head. "Fair enough. Have a good night's rest then."

“Do you have some special Shidou breathing exercises to help you sleep well?” Reo quirks an eyebrow at him.

  
“I tell you about my top-secret training menu and you think you get an unlimited pass to teasing me about it, huh purple bun?" Shidou retorts before breaking into a big yawn. A chuckle escapes Reo's lips as he turns to stare at the ceiling. 

"Wait, did you just laugh?" Shidou asks, rubbing his eyes after yawning so loudly.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Reo replies nonchalantly and yawns, covering his mouth. 

"You definitely did," the platinum-haired man accuses with a low, sleepy voice, "Don't think I didn't notice how I haven't seen you smile once all this time."

Reo only hums in response as his mind begins to drift away. Shidou’s company had been good for keeping Reo from drowning in his own thoughts, but it was just a temporary distraction. Now in the quiet of the night, Reo’s worries come creeping up on him.The room falls into silence with only the sound of their soft breaths filling the air, until Shidou speaks up again, just a little louder than a whisper. 

"I'm going ahead. Get some rest, purple bun. You've worked hard today," Shidou murmurs before turning to his side to face the wall.

Shidou's voice snaps Reo out of his thoughts momentarily. “You too, Shidou,” Reo replies. 

The other’s words echo softly in his head: “ _ You’ve worked hard.” _

Despite always giving his best into everything he does, Reo had rarely ever heard those words directed at him. Not at home, where giving his best had become the requirement rather than an achievement; nor at school, where him excelling was just normal; and especially not in the sports clubs he had joined, where those words were just thrown around to signal the end of practice, rather than a genuine recognition of one’s hard work. 

_ “You’ve worked hard.”  _ Reo stares up at the ceiling. Everything that Reo has accomplished in his life until now was all thanks to his hard work. He was no child prodigy nor was he a genius. All he could ever boast about was his perseverance; but in Blue Lock, perseverance only gets him so far. He was surrounded by geniuses and players with natural talent. Shidou, Reo thinks, is even both. These were the kind of people he was up against, and frankly, Reo had no idea how much more of hard work it would take for him to actually be at par with them.

_ “You’ve worked hard,”  _ Shidou’s voice still resounded in Reo’s mind. He’s right; Reo  _ has _ worked hard, and he was dead tired. It’s been a long day, and Reo decides he is not going to lose sleep over his insecurities; not tonight, because they still had a match to win in the morning. 

**Author's Note:**

> so ! i think this is actually going to have three parts. planning to tell the story up until their entrance in the third selection if blue lock really doesn't wanna show us.
> 
> i had fun writing this (and still having fun writing the other parts) 
> 
> i hope you liked it ! mwah
> 
> hit me up on twitter (@kuonsgf) <3


End file.
